If only looks could thrill…
MARGRAVES OF VALERIA
Designer: Isaias Vallejo | Publisher: Daily Magic Games
Word of advice; never use the descriptor "Worker Placement" to entice non-board gamers. In terms of raw appeal it's only slighter above "Economic Management" and miles behind "Party." The epidemic has reduced my playtest group to my parents and younger brother, who I had to convince to play a 90-minute Hand Management Worker Placement game. Thankfully, Margraves of Valeria is not your run-of-the-mill Eurogame, but a board game ambassador that manages to make building a cardboard engine engaging.
First impressions matter a lot and this game looks gorgeous. From its army of wooden knights to the individual player sets of Margraves (think fancy warlords), ships, towers and dinky cardboard castles, the game wows with its high quality production value. The board is a cascade of colour and every card has wonderfully stylish artwork, making medieval fantasy look as tantalising as a sweet-shop. Gameplay is just as inviting. Players start with a smattering of resources and identical hands of citizen cards.
Each turn, a player can either use the top or bottom of a card to gather resources, buy more cards or slay monsters, all so they can build ward towers and curry influence with the four ruling guilds. Whilst the game ends when one player builds their four towers, the winner is decided by whoever has the strongest influence in the realm, encouraging players to support one or two guilds to maximise on points.
The hand management mechanics lets players approach the game differently, despite starting with the same options. When you want to build a tower or pick up your previously played cards, you must play a card facedown first, rewarding players who manage to not only focus on a particular strategy to succeed, but who sequence their card plays so they're free to take advantage of opportunities.
So, if it looks great and plays smoothly, it's a must-have, right? Unfortunately, no. For a worker placement game to shine, it has to make the act of placing workers matter. The game’s generous resource distribution and card playing options means you're never forced to compromise. A resource might run out for a turn, but you've always got something else to do, so it never feels like an inconvenience. Some cards also benefit your opponents when played, but never punish, limiting your influence over other players to barely registered passive aggressions.
The lack of interaction overall makes playing an isolated experience. Veteran worker placers will immediately see the point potential in certain card combinations, leaving less experienced players to fumble across the board, thinking that they're doing well and only discovering how far behind they were when points are finally tabulated.
For this game to be great, players needed ways to meaningfully interact. If the monsters presented a danger to everyone's success instead of a passive point possibility, or if there were more ramifications to player actions that made gaining resources a challenge instead of a formality, then the puzzle of finding success would feel more rewarding and the game overall would be more exciting.
I really want to rate this game higher based solely on how good it looks, but these quality components come at a cost, one that's hard to justify when the core gameplay means you're only having fun on your turns. If your play group hates when someone spoils their plans and loves gathering and building without fear of being sabotaged, this is the game for you, but if you like your games with a little more bite I recommend looking elsewhere.
MATTHEW VERNALL
WE SAY
The production values and hand building mechanics really raise this game above most, but the lack of player interaction makes it more suited to people who enjoy building an engine.but hate having spanners thrown in the works.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
► 1 Game board
► 1 Track board
► 1 Score sheet pad
► 45 Cardboard gold tokens
► 1 Wooden starting player sword
► 60 Privilege tiles
► 10 Starting wealth tiles
► 104 Game cards
► 5 Self-assembly cardboard keeps
► 5 Player aid cards
► 5 Player boards
► 39 Wooden resources
► 6 Plastic gems
► 20 Wooden knights
► 5 Wooden margraves
► 5 Wooden ships
► 20 Wooden influence trackers
► 20 Wooden ward towers
► 5 Cardboard strength tokens
TRY THIS IF YOU LIKED LORDS OF WATERDEEP
One of the most accessible worker placement games around, both games make players feel rewarded for everything they do, but Margraves trades the Gotcha-style intrigue cards for higher quality components, for better or worse,